I’ve Never Been Poor: Growing Up Middle Class and the Grocery Store Test
What shopping for groceries can tell you about money, life, and social class.
I came to an interesting realization a few weeks ago: I’ve never been poor. I vaguely knew this — my parents always had more than enough to provide for me and my sister, and I’ve been into personal finance since I was a teenager. Managing money well is something that I’m pretty good at.
However, this realization came into stark relief when a random Tumblr post came across my dashboard. It changed how I view what it means to be poor, and it was framed in a trip to the grocery store.
When you’re poor, you count pennies. Everything that goes into your cart is added up, tax is accounted for, and the amount you can spend is set in stone. You cannot splurge on some random thing because that would take away from one of your essentials. Going $1 over your budgeted amount can mean a $35 overdraft fee, which could wreck your finances for the foreseeable future.
When you’re not poor, this is not an issue. You can grab the odd splurge without risking your bank account and wellbeing. You can afford luxuries like ice cream on a regular basis. Essentially, you can afford whatever you want (within reason for most of us, that is)…
